Device for conditioning water produced by air conditioning or environmental dehumidification apparatuses or plants

ABSTRACT

Device for conditioning water produced by environmental conditioning or dehumidification apparatuses or plants, comprising a device ( 2 ) for measuring the quantity of water produced by a condenser ( 1 ) which transforms atmospheric humidity into water, a feeder ( 4 ) of a corrective composition of salts and mineral substances, preferably in the form of tablets (P), for dispensing at least one of them in proportion to the quantity of water measured, a mixing vessel ( 5 ) receiving the measured water and at least a tablet (P) provided by the feeder ( 4 ), a control and command unit ( 6 ) that activates the feeder ( 4 ) in proportion to the quantity of water measured and received, and a tank ( 7 ) for collecting and filtering the water provided with means ( 70 ) for filtering micro-organisms and bacteria and a valve ( 81 ) for the exit of potable water.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a device, with nearly constant andautomatic operation, for conditioning water produced by air conditioningor de-humidifying apparatuses or plants.

In many areas of the world, the problem of obtaining potable water is anextremely difficult one to solve.

In addition to systems and processes for distilling and conditioning seawater and for treating and recirculating waste water, the focus has alsobeen on the possibility of recovering, conditioning and reusing waterproduced by conditioning plants or environmental dehumidificationplants.

BACKGROUND ART

This problem has already been confronted by the prior art through thecapture of the particles of water that constitute air humidity.

For example, the U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,035,418; 4,255,937; 5,259,203;5,517,829; 5,53,459; 6,029,461; 6,182,453 disclose dehumidifierapparatuses, which separate water from air and store it also for humanconsumption. Said dehumidifier apparatus are designed to have maximumefficiency in their water production. The cycle for treating the waterproduced by said apparatuses also comprises a step of sterilising saidwater by means a source of ultraviolet light, showed in WO 00 14464.This sterilisation system has not been found to be always effective toobtain potable water.

Also known, for instance from U.S. Pat. No. 6,303,039, to treat thestagnant water produced by dehumidifiers and by conditioners to makeinnocuous to the environment by dissolving bactericidal substancestherein. In order to be destined to nutrition and home uses, water mustsatisfy not only the requirement of bacteriological purity, but alsochemical, physical and organoleptic requirements to be qualified aspotable. Conditioning water to make it potable therefore needs two typesof intervention: purification and correction. Waters such as thoseobtained from condensation and air dehumidification processes, arenormally free of pathogenic microbes, for instance those deriving frompollution of faecal origin, as is instead the case for surface water orfor water extracted from the subsoil, but, on the other hand, they arequite lacking in the mineral inorganic substances that are necessary fora proper chemical-organoleptic balance.

A problem not yet confronted adequately, therefore, is that of providinga treatment for correcting such water to restore acceptable averagevalues of their content of mineral substances, in order to obtainpotability and organoleptic acceptance conditions.

The aim of the present invention is to assure a purification andcorrection in substantially automatic and continuous fashion of waterproduced by dehumidifier apparatus, built prevalently, as mentionedabove, to achieve high water productivity, and by air conditioningapparatuses designed mainly to create well-being situations in inhabitedenvironments, to make it fit for human consumption.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

The main aim of the invention, therefore, is to provide a treatment forcorrecting said water immediately after its condensation, thus makingthem almost immediately available for consumption, avoiding theirstagnant storage in containers or open tanks with the risk that they maybe polluted.

The invention, as it is characterised in the claims that follows, solvesthe problem of providing a device for conditioning water produced byconditioning or environmental dehumidification apparatuses, including acondenser for transforming atmospheric humidity into water, which, froma general point of view, is characterised in that it comprises:

-   a device for measuring the quantity of water produced by said    condenser and destined to be poured into a conveyor;-   a feeder for dispensing a predetermined quantity of a corrective    composition of salts and minerals in proportion to a reached    predefined quantity of water measured by the measuring device;-   a mixing vessel receiving the water measured by the measuring device    and arriving through said conveyor and said quantity of a corrective    composition of salts and mineral substances provided by the feeder;-   a tank for collecting and filtering the water treated with said    corrective composition of salts and minerals dissolved therein,    provided with filtering means, for treating bacteria and    micro-organisms, communicating with and upstream of a valve for the    exit of potable water;-   a control and command unit operating, when the condenser is in    operating condition, the feeder for dispensing said quantity of a    corrective composition in proportion to the quantity of water    measured by the measuring device; said unit also performing control    and alarm functions at least on the operation of the feeder and on    the filling level of the collection and filtering tank.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further features and advantages of the present invention shall becomemore readily apparent from the detailed description that follows of apreferred embodiment, illustrated purely by way of non limiting examplein the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a schematic view, substantially in blocks, of a plant forproducing potable water from atmospheric humidity and for itsdistribution, which incorporates a conditioning device according to thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 shows a global perspective view of the conditioning device ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows an exploded perspective view of a device for measuring thewater produced and related conveyor of the conditioning device of FIG.1;

FIG. 4 shows a partially exploded perspective view of a feeder ofcorrecting tablets of the conditioning device of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 5 shows a diameter section of the feeder of correcting tablets ofFIG. 4.

DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENT

With reference to FIG. 1, which shows a schematic view, substantially inblocks, of a plant for producing potable water, according to theinvention, the reference number 1 indicates a condenser for transformingatmospheric humidity into water, the number 2 a device for measuring thequantity of water produced by the condenser 1 and destined to be pouredinto a conveyor 3, the number 4 a feeder of predetermined quantities ofa corrective composition of salts and minerals in pre-set proportion tothe quantity of water measured by the measuring device 2, the number 5 avessel for mixing the water arriving through the conveyor 3 with saidcorrective composition provided by the feeder 4, the number 6 a controland command unit that operates the feeder 4 in relation to the quantityof water measured and received through the conveyor 3, the number 7 atank for collecting and filtering the water thus treated and the number8 a refrigerated container for storing and distributing the potablewater communicating with the collection and filtering tank 7.

In the condenser 1 is schematically shown a part of any environmentaldehumidification or conditioning apparatus which, as is well known,produces water by condensation from atmospheric humidity. It should bespecified that, for the purposes of the invention, the condenser 1, andhence the whole potable water production plant, is destined to functionin an environment that is not polluted by dangerous chemical agents, inparticular noxious gases or fumes, which may lead to dissolvingdangerous chemicals to be dissolved in the water, requiring more complextreatments for their Elimination.

The collection and filtering tank 7, according to the invention, can beconstituted by the common tank for collecting the condensation water ofa known home conditioner or dehumidifier apparatus, modified or replacedas described hereafter.

The refrigerated container 8 for storing and distributing potable watercommunicating with the collection and filtering tank 7, through apipeline 80 with valve, and possible circulation pump 81, can be atraditional office water container, provided with tap 82. To allow tofill a glass B with water, the interior of the container 8 is obviouslyin communication with the atmosphere through a pipe 83 fitted with acommon air filter 84.

To make potable the water dispensed by the tap 82 and produced upstreamby the condenser 1, the conditioning device of the invention isprovided. The condensation water to be conditioned is received by thedevice 2 for the measuring the water produced by the condenser 1,measuring device which, in a preferred embodiment, is better illustratedin FIGS. 2 and 3, which are respectively a global perspective view ofthe conditioning device and an exploded perspective view of themeasuring device alone.

Said corrective composition of salts and minerals, to be dosed inpre-set proportion to the quantity of water measured by the measuringdevice 2, comprises a complex of salts, acids and other inorganicsubstances which, once they are dissolved in water, are able to providethe water with the right mineral composition within the limits andproportions established by the literature and by current standards toqualify water as potable. Said composition must, for instance, containsalts, carbonates, bicarbonates, acids able to confer calcium, sodium,magnesium, potassium, fluorine, iron etc., in organolepticallyacceptable average proportions.

This corrective composition can be dispensed in liquid form or insoluble solid form, either in grains or tablets. It has beenexperimentally determined, both for reasons of stability andconservation of the corrective composition and for reasons of ease ofsupply and use, that the solid tablet form is preferable. The remainderof the description will therefore refer to the dispensation of saidcorrective composition in the preferred form of tablets withpre-determined composition and dosage.

As shown in FIG. 1, the measuring device underlies a known nozzle 10 forthe exit of the water from the condenser 1.

Note that the water provided by the condenser 1 is often dispensed, inparticular in small apparatuses or plants for home use, in intermittentdrops or in small, non continuous threads. Said dispensing, moreover,quantitatively depends on the conditions of environmental humidity,which are apt to vary periodically, daily and seasonally. Therefore,said measuring device according to the invention, must be such as to beable to intercept the condensation water in its discontinuity ofdispensation and to measure it taking into account its quantitativevariation over time.

As shown in FIG. 2, advantageously, according to the invention, themeasuring device 2 is fastened to a shaped vertical wall 20 integralwith the associated collection and filtering tank 7.

The device 2 for measuring the water produced by the condenser 1,according to a preferred embodiment, superiorly has a swivellingsemi-tubular element 21 for collecting the water. As shown in greaterdetail in FIG. 3, the swivelling semi-tubular element 21 is open at itsopposite ends and is pivotally mounted, through a pivot spindle 22, ontoa frame 23 provided with appropriate slots 24, 24 for housing the endsof the pivot spindle 22. The pivot spindle 22 is keyed in a prismaticblock 25, appropriately shaped superiorly in order rigidly to receivethe swivelling semi-tubular element 21 in such a way as to oscillatefreely in a single piece therewith.

The swivelling semi-tubular element 21, overlying the conveyor 3 of theproduced water, is separated internally in the transverse direction bymeans of a baffle plate 26 into two opposite chambers 27, 27. Thereference number 29 indicates, by way of example, a block for fasteningthe measuring device 2 to the vertical wall 20.

The measuring device 2 overlies the conveyor 3, suspended underneath it.The conveyor 3 is tray shaped, having a bottom 30, lateral flanks 31, 31and front and rear walls 32, 32 provided with end flaps 33, 33. Thebottom 30, anteriorly and posteriorly inclined downwards by means of itswalls 34, 34, is centrally provided with a hole 35 for the passage ofthe water arriving from the swivelling semi-tubular element 21, as shallbe explained hereafter. The conveyor 3 is fastened to the shaped wall20, for instance by means of a bracket 36.

The water produced by the condenser 1 descends in drops through thenozzle 10 into one of the two chambers 27, 27 of the swivellingsemi-cylindrical element 21 of the measuring device 2. When said chamber27 is sufficiently full, in the volume of water defining thepredetermined limit weight causing the oscillation of the swivellingsemi-cylindrical element 21, it tilts the element 21 to one side andcauses the water contained therein, by gravity, into the underlyingconveyor 3, positioning the other one of the two chambers 27, 27 instable fashion underneath the nozzle 10. Each oscillation of theswivelling element 21 therefore measures a determined and certainquantity of water produced by the condenser.

As shown in FIG. 2, underlying the conveyor 3 is positioned the vessel 5for mixing the measured water arriving through the conveyor 3 and atleast a tablet provided by the feeder 4 through an advancement tube 9.The tablet 5 (FIGS. 4 and 5) is made to arrive by gravity from thefeeder 4 which is fastened, for instance, to the shaped vertical wall 20by means of a bracket 40.

With reference now to FIGS. 4 and 5, which are respectively a partiallyexploded perspective view and a diameter section of the feeder 4,according to a preferred embodiment for dispensing the correctivecomposition in the form of tablets, of the conditioning device accordingto the invention. The feeder 4 of tablets P, in its preferredembodiment, comprises a container for tablets formed by an uppercylindrical wall 41, provided with a lid 42, by a lower cylindrical part43 integrated in a body 44 and by a base 45. On the base 45 is pivotallymounted, by means of an electric motor 46 housed in a respective seat460 passing through the base 45, a shaped dome 47. The shaped dome 47has a convex upper surface 48 and substantially cylindrical outerlateral wall 49. The dome 47, suitably connected to the shaft of themotor 46 to rotate coaxially therewith, has such dimensions that betweenthe outer lateral surface 49 and the inner surface of the lowercylindrical part 43 of the tablet container there is such a gap as toallow only the vertical positioning of the tablets P. The dome 47 has atits base stepped projections 470 (FIG. 4), each having greaterdiametrical width than a tablet, separated by a plurality ofcircumferentially equidistant seats 471, each seat 471 having suchdimensions as to receive a single tablet. The number of seats 471 can befour. On the base 45 of the feeder is appropriately provided a throughopening 450 surmounted by an interdiction cap 451 fastened from theoutside to the body 44 of the tablet container. The tablet container 451prevents tablets coming from the top of the container to enter thethrough opening. If one of the seats 471 is initially positionedcorrespondingly surmounting the through opening 450, at each 90°rotation a successive seat 471 is positioned in correspondence with thethrough opening 450. The through opening 450 is in communication throughthe advancement tube 9, supported by means of an attachment neck 90,with said mixing vessel 5 of the water measured by the measuring device2 with the tablet P.

The mixing vessel 5 has a centrally concave bottom, inferiorly holedwith a hole of smaller size than the diameter of the tablet P, so thatit cannot pass through it before having been gradually dissolved by thewater poured thereon by the measuring device 2. The operation, alreadyfairly apparent in itself, shall be described in detail hereafter.

The control and command unit 6 (FIG. 1) operates through an electricalconnection line 60 the tablet feeder 4 in proportion and upon reachingthe predetermined quantity of water measured and received through theconveyor 3, through an electrical connecting line 61 which allows tocount the oscillation of the swivelling element 21 on the pivotingspindle 22 of the measuring device 2.

For example, once the number of oscillations of the swivelling element21 corresponding to the pouring of two litres of condensation water intothe collection and filtering tank 7 is counted, the fall is allowed ofone tablet, of corrective composition, dosed and proportioned to the twolitres of water, which is gradually dissolved by the additional waterdispensed in the conveyor 3.

The command unit 6, in addition to checking, providing alarm signals,for the presence of tablets in the container of the feeder 4 and anyjamming thereof, may provide, through a line 62, for the operation apossible device 63 for agitating the conditioned water inside thecollection and filtering tank 7. Said agitator device 63 serves thefunction of mixing and homogenising the water contained in the tankcorrected with the periodic dissolution of the tablet P. The commandunit 6 can also provide for the continuous measuring of the water levelin the collection and filtering tank 7, schematically illustratedthrough a connecting line 64.

Moreover, according to the invention, the collection and filtering tank7 is internally provided with means 70 for filtering the water astreated above, schematically illustrated with two immersed cylindricalbodies 71, in communication with and upstream of the valve 81 for theexit of potable water. Said filters, known in themselves, aresterilisation filters, for instance preferably with granular filling ofceramic material or kieselgur, with such porosity as to withhold the anymicro-organisms and bacteria present in the water and, obviously, anyother suspensions or corpuscles present in the water, which may derivefrom the condenser 1.

Advantageously, when necessary, for a greater certainty of reaching theprescribed condition of bacteriological purity of the condensationwater, said corrective composition, also in its solid tablet form, canbe formulated to comprise also common bactericide substances.

The operation of the conditioning device according to the inventiontherefore is as follows. Once the count number corresponding to adetermined flow rate of water is reached, the command unit 6 activatesthe feeder 4 of corrective composition, possibly in the form of tabletsP, causing the dome 47 to rotate. In this way a tablet positioned in aseat 471 is brought in correspondence with the through opening 450obtained at the base 45 of the tablet container. The tablet P is made toadvance by gravity through the advancement tube 9 to reach the mixingvessel 5 where it is dissolved by the water coming from the conveyor 3.The solution of condensation water enriched by the minerals dissolvedfrom the tablet falls into the collection and filtering tank 7 wherefromit exits, passing the filtering means 70, to feed a preferablyrefrigerated storage and distribution container 8.

In this way, a nearly continuous automatic conditioning is assuredduring the operation of the condenser 1, with perfect treatment in termsof bacteriological purification and correction of the chemical contentand of the organoleptic characteristics, of the water obtained bycondensation by an environmental dehumidification or conditioningapparatus.

Naturally, the invention as conceived can be subject to numerousmodifications and variations, without thereby departing from the scopeof the same inventive concept that characterises it as claimed below.

1. Device for conditioning water produced by environmental conditioningor dehumidification apparatuses or plants that include a condenser (1)for transforming atmospheric humidity into water, a tank (7) collectingthe water, filtering means (7), a valve (81) for exit of potable water,a control and command unit (6), characterised in that it also comprises:a device (2) for measuring a quantity of water produced by saidcondenser (1) and destined to be poured into a conveyor (3); a feeder(4) for dispensing a dosed predetermined quantity of a correctivecomposition of salts and minerals in proportion to a reached predefinedquantity of water measured by the measuring device (2); a mixing vessel(5) receiving the water measured by the measuring device (2) comingthrough said conveyor (3) and said quantity of a corrective compositionof salts and minerals supplied by the feeder (4); said tank (7) beingplaced downstream of the mixing vessel (5) to collect the water treatedwith said corrective composition dosed of salts and minerals dissolvedtherein, and being provide with said filtering means (70) forwithholding bacteria and micro-organisms; said control and command unit(6) activating, when the condenser (1) is in operation, the feeder (4)for dispensing said quantity of the dosed corrective composition inproportion to the quantity of water measured by the measuring device (2)to provide, once they are dissolved in water, a correct mineralcomposition of the water for its qualification as potable; said unitfurther performing monitoring and alarm functions at least over theoperation of the feeder (4) and of the level of filling of thecollection and filtering the tank (7).
 2. Device as claimed in claim 1,characterised in that said corrective composition of salts and mineralsfurther comprises bactericide substances.
 3. Device as claimed in claim1, characterised in that said corrective composition of salts andmineral substances is provided in liquid form.
 4. Device as claimed inclaim 1, characterised in that said corrective composition of salts andmineral substances is provided soluble solid form.
 5. Device as claimedin claim 4, characterised in that said corrective composition of saltsand mineral substances is provided in the form of tablets (P).
 6. Deviceas claimed in claim 1, characterised in that said device (2) formeasuring the water produced by the condenser (1) comprises a swivellingsemi-tubular element (21) for collecting the water, pivotally mounted,through a pivot spindle (22), onto a frame (23) overlying said conveyor(3) of the produced water; said swivelling semi-tubular element (21)being separated transversely by means of a baffle plate (26) into twoopposite chambers (27, 27) which, alternatively filled one at a time bythe water produced by the condenser (1) through its nozzle (10), pour bygravity and alternating oscillations measured quantities of water intosaid conveyor (3).
 7. Device as claimed in claim 4, characterised inthat said feeder (4) of tablets(P) comprises a container for tablets,having at its base (45), a rotating dome (47) so shaped that between theouter lateral surface (49) of the rotating dome (47) and the innersurface (43) of the container there is such a gap as to allow thepositioning of tablets (P) arranged vertically; said dome (47) having atits base stepped projections (470) separated by a plurality of seats(471) circumferentially equidistant for the reception of a single tablet(P), destined to come in correspondence of a single through opening(450) obtained in said base (45) and provided with an interdictioncap(451) to allow the passage of a single tablet (P) at a time at eachrotation of the rotating dome (47) which places in correspondence a seat(471) with said through opening (450); the through opening (450) beingin communication with an advancement tube (9) to said vessel (5) formixing the water measured with the tablet (P).
 8. Device as claimed inclaim 1, characterised in that said collection and filtering tank (7) isprovided with means (63) for agitating the water, commanded by saidcontrol and command unit (6).
 9. Device as claimed in claim 1,characterised in that said means (70) for filtering the water areconstituted by at least a submerged filter (71), in communication withand upstream of a valve 81 for exit of potable water.
 10. Device asclaimed in claim 9, characterised in that said filter (71) isconstituted by a sterilisation filter with such porosity as to withholdany micro-organisms and bacteria which may be present in the water. 11.Device as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that said collecting andfiltering tank (7) feeds through a valve (81) a container (8) forstoring and distributing potable water, wherefrom water is drawn througha tap (82).